- KABUL (Reuters) - Fighters
from Afghanistan's ousted Taliban said on Tuesday they had shot down a
U.S. military helicopter, but an American spokesman denied that saying
a Black Hawk helicopter had made an accidental "hard landing."
-
- Abdul Latif Hakimi, a spokesman for the Taliban, said
guerrillas brought down the helicopter with a missile in Char Cheno district
of Uruzgan province late on Monday.
-
- "We are 100 percent sure that our mujahideen (holy
warriors) managed to shoot down the chopper and that all 18 coalition soldiers
on board were either killed or wounded," Hakimi said by satellite
phone from an undisclosed location.
-
- The U.S. military in Kabul said the Taliban claim was
not true, but added that one of its UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters carrying
an unspecified number of U.S.-led soldiers "made a hard landing"
in Deh Rawud district of Uruzgan.
-
- "The helicopter sustained moderate damage in this
non-hostile incident. There were no injuries," the U.S. military said.
-
- There was no immediate independent account.
-
- Central Uruzgan province used to be part of the main
bastion of the Taliban, forced from power by U.S.-led troops in late 2001.
-
- U.S. and Afghan troops have come under regular attack
by Taliban and their Islamic allies in the rugged province.
-
- More than 1,000 people have been killed in the past year
mostly in Afghanistan's southern and eastern areas where the militants
are largely active.
-
- There are 18,000 U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, hunting
Taliban rebels and their allies, including fighters of the al Qaeda network
of Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
-
- The U.S.-led military overthrew the Taliban after the
hardline regime refused to hand over bin Laden.
|
